I had snapped a photo of the sheet listing the top 64 teams – unfortunately, it’s quite blurry. I’ve done my best to interpret the team names but some of these might be incorrect!! If so, I am extremely sorry for the error and please let me know asap!

My first arbitration round was at 8.30 am on Saturday, April 27, 2010: University of Groningen (Netherlands) v. George Washington University (USA). The round was held at the University of Vienna’s Law School, the Juridicum:

The Juridicum, located at Schottenbastei 10-16.

Milling around outside of the Juridicum

Registration is held on the Juridicum's top floor ("DG") accompanied by the all-important coffee stations.

Following arbitration of the first round, we met with the oralists in the Juridicum to give feedback. My co-arbitrators were Dr. Petra Butler (sitting to my right - she was last year's coach of the 2009 winning team, the University of Wellington) and Dr. Chi Manjiao from China (not pictured).

I am so glad to be here this year…I almost didn’t make it. I was co-opted into attending the PLRB in San Antonio (one hour behind Toronto time), and returned the day before heading out to Vienna (6 hours ahead of Toronto time), further to which I had booked tickets with British Airways…fortunately, I just missed the strike dates.

Landing at Heathrow Airport

Landing at the scenic British Airways Terminal

The Heathrow Airport Terminal

A Five Hour Stopover

Spot the Mootie! Someone is carrying Schlectriem’s Commentary on the CISG!

Vienna International Airport

Heading to the Trains

In my opinion, the most economical way to get to Vienna’s city center from the airport is by train. There is an express train (CAT), however I prefer the plain old ordinary train which costs only 3,60 Euros and will provide you with a good introduction to the city’s public transportation system. Simply follow the sign that looks like a little lightening bolt – this will lead you to the train platform (the station is known as “Flughafen Wien” which translates as “Airport Vienna”):

The Train Station at Vienna International Airport

At the platform, there are plenty of ticket terminals which look like this:

Pick the “VOR Single Trip Ticket – Selection of Destination”

Pick “Wein Mitte” as the destination – this will take you to the city center where you can transfer to the Subway (U-Bahn) which is included in the cost of your ticket.

Click “Buy Ticket”

The machines accept cash or credit card. Make sure you remember to pick up the ticket – the conductors perform regular ticket checks. In order to determine which platform at which you board the train, have a look at the Schedule:

You will be boarding the OBB train, not a CAT train. As shown above, an OBB train to Wien Mitte departs from Platform 2 at 7:18 p.m. and 7:48 p.m.

At Wein Mitte, you simply transfer to the subway line with a station close to your hotel (you will need to map this out beforehand).

Pamela Pengelley

Pamela Pengelley is a lawyer with Cozen O'Connor. She focuses her practice on subrogation, insurance and commercial litigation.
Please note that the views expressed in this blog are the author's own and are not affiliated with Cozen O'Connor.